Psychological Disorders Flashcards
Psychological Disorders
behaviors or mental processes that are connected with various kinds of distress or significant impairment in functioning
Hallucination
perception in the absence of sensory stimulation that is confused with reality
“hearing/seeing things”
Ideas of Persecution
erroneous beliefs that one is being victimized or persecuted
(thinking that the FBI is out to get you)
Demonological Model (Perspectives on Psychological Disorders)
People back then believed that the Devil was responsible for psychological disorders. This led to brutal “treatments” such as drilling of holes in the skull for the evil spirits to escape.
Medical Model (Perspectives on Psychological Disorders)
After many killings during the demonological era, during the age of reason, more health professionals, such as Philippe Pinel, viewed psychological disorders as diseases of the mind.
Contemporary Psychological Models
many psychologists looked for biological and physical contributors to psychological disorders
The diathesis-stress model
assumes that there may be biological differences between individuals.
(explains why some people develop certain psychological disorders under stress, while some do not)
The biopsychosocial model
explains psychological disorder in terms of combination
- biological vulnerabilities
- psychological factors (exposure to stress)
- sociocultural factors (family rels and cultural beliefs)
Classifying Psychological Disorders
This is the communication between investigators.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the Mental Disorders, compiled by the American Psychiatric Association (2013) The manual is known more simply as the DSM-5.
Anxiety Disorders
have psychological and physical symptoms
- worrying fear of the worst happening, fear of losing control, nervousness, inability to relax
- trembling, sweating, increase in heartbeat, and elevated blood pressure
Specific phobias
excessive irrational fears of specific objects or situations such as spiders, snakes, or heights
claustrophobia - fear of tight spaces
acrophobia - fear of heights
agoraphobia - fear of going out of their homes
Social Anxiety Disorder
excessive fears of social situations in which the individual is exposed to the scrutiny of others or might do something that will be humiliating or embarrassing.
(public speaking, stage fright, speech anxiety, dating fears)
Panic Disorder
abrupt anxiety attack that is unrelated to specific objects or situations.
shortness of breath, heavy sweating, tremors, and pounding of heart
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
persistent anxiety that cannot be attributed to a phobic object, situation, or activity. Comes from pervasive worrying about numerous stressors.
shakiness, inability to relax, furrowed brow, fidgeting
Psychological Views (Origins of Anxiety Disorders)
views that phobias are conditioned fears that were gained in early childhood.
Biological Views
Anxiety disorders tend to run in families. Evolutionary psychologists suggests that anxiety may reflect natural selection.
Biopsychosocial Views
Many cases of anxiety disorders reflect the interaction of biological, psychological, and social factors.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
recurrent, anxiety-provoking thoughts or images that seem irrational and beyond control (obsessions) and seemingly irresistible urges to engage in thoughts or behaviors that tend to reduce the anxiety (compulsions)
Hoarding Disorder
overpowering need to accumulate certain kinds of possessions and have difficulty discarding them.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
rapid heart rate and feelings of anxiety and helplessness that are caused by a traumatic experience.
occurs 6 months or more after the traumatic event
Acute Stress Disorder
same with PTSD, but occurs within a month of the event and lasts from two days to four weeks
Dissociative Disorders
which there are sudden, temporary changes in consciousness or self-identity
Dissociative identity disorder (DID)
(formerly termed multiple personality disorder) a disorder in which a person appears to have two or more distinct identities or personalities that may alternately emerge
Dissociative amnesia
a dissociative disorder marked by loss
of memory or self-identity; skills and general knowledge are usually retained
Depersonalization–derealization
disorder
experience episodes of feeling detached from themselves or feeling that the world around them is unreal.
Somatoform disorders
physical problems such as paralysis, pain, or a persistent belief that they have a serious disease.
Illness anxiety disorder (type of somatoform disorder)
People with this disorder insist that they are suffering from a serious physical illness, even though no medical evidence of illness can be found.
Conversion disorder
characterized by a major change in, or loss of, physical functioning, although there are no medical findings to explain the loss of functioning.
something is really wrong but is not physically shown
Bipolar disorder
earlier known as manic-depressive disorder,
have mood swings from ecstatic elation to deep depression.
manic phase is when a person is too excited. these people may be argumentative, show poor judgment, destroy property, make huge contributions to charity, or give away expensive possessions.
Bipolar depression
People with bipolar depression often sleep
more than usual and are lethargic.
social withdrawal and irritability. Some people with bipolar disorder attempt suicide when
the mood shifts from the elated phase toward depression. Imbalances in the neurotransmitter serotonin apparently play a role in bipolar disorder
Major Depressive disorder
serious to severe depressive disorder in which the person may show loss of appetite, psychomotor retardation, and impaired reality testing
Psychomotor Retardation
slowness in motor activity and (apparently) in thought
Psychological Disorder (Psychological View)
Many learning theorists suggest that depressed people behave as though they cannot obtain reinforcement.
Cognitive factors also contribute to depression.
For example, perfectionists set themselves up
for depression by making irrational demands
on themselves.
Learned Helplessness
a possible explanation for some depressive behavior, based on findings that organisms in aversive situations learn to show inactivity when their behavior is not reinforced
Attribution styles
styles in which we put the blame to
Internal - blaming ourselves
external - blaming others
stable - blaming something that cannot be changed
unstable - blames a temporary condition
global - suggests that the problem was too large
specific - chops the problem into a manageable size
Neuroticism
often associated with depression & anxiety
a personality trait characterized largely by persistent anxiety
